Yes it can, but that's not the whole answer. Operators need to be in tune with what's cool, says Chuck Weiner of Weiner Distributing
Another summer arcade season is drawing to a close. In my location, it's been a very good year, given the stagnant economy. If you're like most amusement operators (myself included), redemption and instant prize games have driven your earnings all summer long. But you've probably noticed it's getting harder to capture and keep people's attention. In the eyes of the public, coin-op just isn't cool anymore.
The manufacturing community hasn't exactly responded in a way that is helpful to operators. The newest releases from the leading video game manufacturers, for example, bare a striking resemblance to everything that came before them. When is the last time a new driving game knocked your socks off? The cost for a brand new driver is prohibitively expensive compared to its modest, even anaemic earnings. Even lease options offer little ROI potential. Yet the leading distributor is still pushing the same old video instead of offering the operator something of real value.
Clinging to outdated ideas is bad. Deliberately forsaking the lifeblood of our industry is worse. Countertop touchscreen games are a fixture in almost every bar and diner in the country. But if you have a good look around one of these locations, you're bound to see people glued to their smart phones instead of the countertops. Why? Because for the price of a single play on a countertop, you can download an almost identical game app to your smart phone and play it as much as you want. Operators are feeling the pain. And to make matters worse, the leading manufacturer is rubbing salt into the wound by licensing its touchscreen games as phone apps, bypassing its operators and rendering its own hardware redundant. Smart phone users can now play the exact same games without taking cash out of their pockets.
Fate is a cruel mistress. Decades ago, technological innovation gave rise to our industry; now it threatens our very existence. Home gamers play titles like Halo or Call of Duty with or against anyone in the world via the internet. In bars and clubs across America, people are ignoring countertop games and playing apps on their smart phones. We're at a crossroads, people. The hi-tech revolution can kill us or save us. I don't know about you, but in times of sink or swim, I choose to swim, and swim hard.
To be cool again, we need to get “smart,” and embrace new technology. The smart phone is the most important status symbol among young people today. Electronics retailers are running commercials about phone envy and a leading wireless carrier is urging America to finish our work faster so we can all get back to playing Angry Birds.
This feature can be found in full in the November 2011 issue of InterGame magazine.
